Jim Jordan didn't flunk bar exam; Hakeem Jeffries was not Rhodes scholar | Fact check
The claim: Jim Jordan flunked the bar exam; Hakeem Jeffries was a Rhodes scholar
An Oct. 17 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) compares a key congressional Republican’s purported academic record with the supposed accomplishments of the House’s top Democrat.
“Jim Jordan flunked his bar exam 2xs – never did pass,” the post reads. “Hakim (sic) Jeffries – Georgetown Univ., NYU Law school, Rhodes scholar.”
It was shared more than 5,000 times in a week. Similar iterations of the post were shared on X, formerly Twitter, more than 3,000 times in four days.
Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks
Our rating: False
Rep. Jim Jordan has never taken the bar exam. A spokesperson for the scholarship program says Rep. Hakeem Jeffries was not a Rhodes scholar.
Jordan never took bar exam, couldn't have flunked
Jordan and Jeffries have been at the forefront of the ongoing speaker vacancy that has paralyzed the House of Representatives.
Jordan, an Ohio Republican, was dropped as his party's nominee after losing three straight elections. Jeffries, a Democrat from New York and the House Minority Leader, received 100% of the votes cast by his fellow Democrats on all three ballots, but House rules require the speaker to win the majority of all ballots cast.
The claims in the Facebook post get a key fact wrong about each of their backgrounds.
Fact check: Video shows Jim Jordan questioning ATF director, not attacking Adam Schiff
Jordan could not have flunked the bar exam because he has never taken it, spokesperson Russell Dye told USA TODAY in an email.
The congressman was born in Ohio, earned his law degree from Capital University in Columbus, and currently represents the state in Congress, according to his official biography.
But Ohio Office of Bar Admissions records show Jordan has never applied to take the exam in the state, Supreme Court of Ohio spokesperson Lyn Tolan told USA TODAY in an email. That court appoints the 18 people who make up the board that administers the exam.
Jordan previously said during a 2018 interview with NPR that he did not take the exam.
No Rhodes scholarship for Jeffries
Jeffries holds degrees from Georgetown University and New York University’s law school, as the post claimed, according to his official House biography.
But he was not a Rhodes scholar, Thom Yu, a spokesperson for the Association of American Rhodes Scholars, told USA TODAY in an email.
There is no evidence that Jeffries has ever claimed to have been one. His name does not appear in the online database of Rhodes scholars maintained by the Rhodes Trust, a charity that supports the students who earn scholarships to study at Oxford University, England.
The social media user who made the post declined to provide evidence to support the claim in a Facebook message to USA TODAY.
USA TODAY reached out to spokespeople for Jeffries but did not immediately receive responses.
Our fact-check sources:
Russell Dye, Oct. 23, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Lyn Tolan, Oct. 23, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Thom Yu, Oct. 23, Email exchange with USA TODAY
NPR, March 20, 2018, Questions Mount About If And When Robert Mueller Will Interview Trump
Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Leader, accessed Oct. 23, About the Democratic Leader
Jim Jordan, accessed Oct. 23, About Jim
Rhodes Trust, accessed Oct. 23, Rhodes Scholar Database
Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.
Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jim Jordan didn't flunk the bar exam. He's never taken it | Fact check
